1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to compressed air-actuated valves and somewhat more particularly to valves useful for attachment to devices used in chemical analyses wherein a piston actuates a suitably arranged slide member in the piston thrust direction, with the slide member being glidable on a base provided with spaced-apart holes extending perpendicularly to the base glide surface and being connectable to one another on one side via at least one groove appropriately arranged in the slide member surface facing the base and on the other side of the base such holes are connected with select intake and/or discharge nozzles.
2. Prior Art
Compressed air-actuated valves which can be attached to or with other devices, such as pumps, containers and the like require the lowest possible amount of "dead" (i.e., unusable or unnecessary) volume and such valves must be assemblable in a space-saving manner. In order to actuate typical known valves with compressed air, the compressed air acts on a spring-loaded piston in such a manner that upon evacuation of the piston chamber volume, the valve closes immediately under the urging of the spring. The incorporation of such a "re-set" spring in a valve structure requires not only additional structural elements but also requires an increase in the overall height dimension of the valve in the direction of the work motion.